


Guardian of Atlantis

by silverraven



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-02
Updated: 2011-01-02
Packaged: 2017-10-14 08:49:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/147506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silverraven/pseuds/silverraven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was written for my square <i>Fantasy & Supernatural: Sword and Sorcery</i> on <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/au_bingo/profile"><img/></a><a href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/au_bingo/"><b>au_bingo</b></a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Guardian of Atlantis

**Author's Note:**

> My thanks to [](http://wickedtruth.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**wickedtruth**](http://wickedtruth.dreamwidth.org/) for the beta. ♥

Dear Father,

I hope this letter finds you well. I miss you and everyone in the village greatly but I do not regret my decision to leave. I am due my twice annual vacation in three lunar cycles and plan on returning to Athos then.

The journey to Castle Atlantis went well. I know you were worried, but I did not have any trouble. I did come across two trolls but quickly dealt with them. Let’s just say they now know better than to think a lone woman traveler easy prey. Other than that, the journey was uneventful.

Until I reached the castle gates.

I asked one of the guards about joining and he laughed, saying, “The guard is no place for one as petite and beautiful as you” and then told me just the place I would be good for. The nerve of that man! I wanted nothing more than to dump him in the waters surrounding Atlantis but I only smiled sweetly and asked again. He finally lowered the gate and sent me to a specialist in the east tower.

The castle is breathtaking, Father. How I wish you could see it! It’s made up of several tall towers, with a central spiral tower that is taller than the rest. That is were the throne room is and where the Elf Queen Elizabeth and the members of the royal court live. It also houses the finest hospital and doctors in all of the Pegasus Kingdom.

I hope to one day see inside the central tower (which the Elves call ‘Command’).

Now where was I? Oh, yes. The specialist I was sent to was not much help, he is a man of little words (although quiet large) and told me to go see Captain Lorne. The captain smiled when I told him I wanted to join the guard and apologized for the run around I received. He took me back to the specialist, whose name is Ronon and he’s one of the best trainers. After having a private discussion amongst themselves, I was left with Ronon to see if I would qualify for Guardian training.

I had to do all kinds of things to prove I am a strong and capable solider. I had to climb a tower with only a rope, race across a muddy marsh on my hands and knees, hand-to-hand combat against some trainees, throw a spear, shoot an arrow… on and on it went. Until the sun had set and my muscles ached and lungs burned. But it was worth it, as my trials went on, more and more guardians had gathered to watch, and to see their gaping faces at day’s end was a pleasure I have never felt before.

It was only Specialist Ronon that did not look impressed. “Don’t get cocky now,” he told me, “the true test is tomorrow. That’s when we test your swordsmanship.”

Swordsmanship! The happiness I felt deflated out of me like a popped balloon. You have always taught me to be proud of my heritage, Father, but at that moment I cursed our village for not using swords. What good would all my bantos training do now?

I slept poorly that night, tossing and turning and fretting over the upcoming challenge. I tried to eat a full breakfast in the morning, knowing I needed all my strength, but I only ate a little before my nervous stomach had enough.

I was on my way out of the dining hall when stopped by an elf in a wizarding robe. “You are the woman wishing to join the guard, yes?” he asked. “The one from Athos?” He did not give me a chance to answer before mumbling that I must be and hurrying off.

He stopped a few feet away and turned his head to look back at me, appearing puzzled. “Well, hurry up. I haven’t got all day, I’m a very busy man.” He snapped his fingers and started walking again and I realized the wizard wanted me to follow him.

Unlike Ronon, the wizard seemed to love talking. He told me his name was Mer and that he was the lead Alchemist in Atlantis, he also boasted he was smartest person in Pegasus. During our fifteen minute walk to the dungeons and what the wizard called his private laboratory, he did nothing but complain (the long walk, the dampness, the spiders) in between mutterings of how he would show Sheppard.

I inquired what exactly he would show Sheppard but he only smiled. His smile was crooked and with his blue eyes twinkling in amusement, I found my annoyance at all his earlier complaining vanishing.

“Colonel Sheppard is the leader of the Guardians,” Mer said as we entered his laboratory, “he has a suspicious nature and doesn’t think someone from Athos would make a good addition to the Atlantis Guard.”

“Someone from Athos or a woman?” I asked, crossing my arms.

The wizard only shrugged before making his way across the laboratory - filled with cauldrons and vials, devices and machines I had never seen before, and countless books - to the far wall. The wall had dozens of various weapons mounted on it, including bantos rods. Mer took one and slowly dunked it in one of the bubbling cauldrons and cast an incantation.

What he pulled out was a silver sword.

“It looks like a sword,” he explained, “but it feels and handles like the bantos rod it actually is.” He handed me the weapon and I watched as a wicked grin took over Mer’s face.

“So, want to help me prove Sheppard wrong?”

I passed my swordsmanship test with flying colors.

And later that day, with Mer’s, Captain Lorne’s, and Ronon’s recommendation, I was accepted into the Guardian Training Program.

I passed that with flying colors too.

The Placing Ceremony was like a dream. I wish it had not coincided with the harvest, so you could have been here. The weather was perfect, every flower in the castle blooming (thanks to the wizards), the hallways and courtyard were finely decorated in colorful banners and streamers.

Ronon picked me up and spin me as if I weighed nothing more than a doll, his booming laugh echoing along the walls of the courtyard. At one point, I saw a money pouch exchange hands between Mer and Colonel Sheppard, the smirk on Mer’s face not surprising. However, the small smile and sincerity in the Colonel’s eyes when he welcomed me into the guard was. Yet, nothing compared to the accomplishment I felt when Queen Elizabeth presented me with a Guardian cloak.

I do no believe the smile left my face all day.

I will always be a proud Athosian, Father, but I feel as though I have finally found home in Atlantis.

                                                                                                                                              Love always,  
                                                                                                                                              Teyla


End file.
